Top 10 Upsets of this Decade at Wimbledon

We have seen some breath-taking performances in the Wimbledon in recent times as Wimbledon has always provided the perfect platform for some big upsets. The pacey grass court tournament has provided some lower-ranked players with morale-boosting victories over the Top seeds in the Tennis circuit.

With defending French Open champion Stan Wawrinka being knocked out by French counterpart Richard Gasquet earlier in a thriller of a match, here’s a look at the biggest upsets at the All England club in the past decade:

#10 Tomas Berdych defeats Roger Federer, quarter-finals 2010  6–4, 3–6, 6–1, 6–4

 An extremely unexpected result in 2010, as Roger Federer was taken down at Wimbledon after seven straight finals. The Swiss player’s loss was his first since 2002. The Classy Swiss entered Wimbledon that year as one of the favorites, despite having lost in the Halle Open final in the lead up to Wimbledon, as well as his World No.1 ranking to Nadal after a quarter-final exit at Roland Garros.

His first round encounter against Alejandro Falla was a five-setter. The Swiss was actually two sets down and also faced the threat of his opponent serving for the match; but eventually triumphed after some hard-work. Success in the later stages was relatively easy until he met Tomas Berdych in the Quarter-finals.

Tomas Berdych claimed a stunning four-set victory to condemn Federer to a second straight Grand Slam quarter-final exit and ensure that the final would not feature the Great Swiss for the first time since 2002.

#9  Sergiy Stakhovsky defeats Roger Federer, second round, 2013   6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 7-5, 7-6 (5)

 At this point, uncertainty over Federer’s career came into existence as many were to write-off the Swiss. But when he entered the Wimbledon as the defending champion, he looked terrific in the first-round match.

Performance in the first-round silenced his critics for a couple of days, but soon after, the Swiss lost to No.116 Stakhovsky in the second round.  Sergiy Stakhovsky seemed to arrive from some other time, serving and volleying Federer off the court for his first victory against a top 10 player in 21 attempts. He may not have had a fruitful career ahead with this victory, but for Federer, this loss would have definitely broken his devoted fans’ hearts!

 #8 Sabine Lisicki defeats  Serena Williams, fourth round, 2013      6-2, 1-6, 6-4

Serena Williams entered this tournament with some seasoned critics proclaiming her the greatest female player in the tennis history. Serena was considered an absolute favorite to win her sixth Wimbledon and 17th Major.

But Sabine Lisicki had some other plans, as she shocked the world by taking the first set with some delightful stroke play. Serena came back strongly in the second set with some attacking tennis and some brute force. She raced off to 3-0 lead in the third set; but Lisicki gained her composure that won her the first set, and sealed the match over a tearful Serena.

#7 Karolina Sprem defeats Venus Williams, second round, 2004   7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (8-6)

This controversial encounter will be remembered for a really long time when Karolina Sprem defeated Venus Williams.

Venus Williams had reached the finals at Wimbledon in each of the last four years, winning the title in 2000 and 2001, while losing the other two finals to her younger sister, Serena. Williams was not expected to be challenged when she met 19-year-old Croat Karolina Sprem in the second round of the 2004 Wimbledon.

The Croat began the proceedings with some brilliant play to take the first-set in a tie-breaker. The game went onto proceed to the second tie-breaker in the match and then came the controversy. Sprem was incorrectly awarded a point while trailing 1-2, but at that moment no issue had erupted. Though Venus wasted three set points in the tie-break, Sprem came through to earn the biggest victory of her career, and thus sent Venus Williams crashing to her earliest exit at Wimbledon since 1997.

#6 Alize Cornet defeats Serena Williams, third round, 2014              1-6, 6-3, 6-4.

World No.1 Serena Williams fell in the ladies singles when the entertaining Frenchwoman Alize Cornet secured her second victory over Williams in the 2014 season in the Round of 32 of Wimbledon. Cornet had earlier in the year defeated Williams in Dubai in straight sets but that win doesn’t come close to the magnitude of repeating it on the grandest stage of all.

Serena seemed very uncomfortable on the court throughout this grueling encounter against the 25th seeded Cornet. Cornet had never beaten a top-20 player at a grand slam in 13 attempts. Yet somehow she found the magic and resolve to recover after Williams had swatted her aside in the first set.

“I cannot believe it,” she said. “A few years ago I couldn’t play on grass but now I have beaten the world No 1. It’s the biggest upset of the tournament. A dream. I cannot believe I did it myself – me! – but the tournament is not over for me,” she said.

#5 Nick Kyrgios defeats Rafael Nadal, fourth round, 2014                  7-6(5), 5-7, 7-6(5), 6-3

Nick Kyrgios, aged 19, and ranked 144th, reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals by stunning the World No.1 Rafael Nadal in four sets on centre court in one of the greatest grand slam upsets.

The Australian is the first player ranked outside the top 100 to beat a World No.1 since 1992, and the first teenager to achieve the feat at a Grand Slam since Nadal himself beat Roger Federer at Roland Garros in 2005. He is the lowest-ranked player ever to beat Nadal at a major.

“I think I was in the zone out there,” said Kyrgios. “I played some incredible tennis. I was struggling a little bit on return, but I worked my way into it and got that break in the fourth set.”

The constants were his serving, and incredible self-belief. “You have to believe that you can win the match from the start, and I definitely thought that.’’ Afterwards, he said he was unsure what to do. “Just so many emotions.’’

#4 George Bastl defeats Pete Sampras, second round, 2002                 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 3-6, 6-4

Concluding one of the strangest, most upset-packed days in Wimbledon history, Pete Sampras joined his great rival Andre Agassi and the No. 2 seeded Marat Safin — as a victim of upsets on the same day in 2002. Though it was evident that the seven-time Wimbledon champion was nowhere near his past tennis genius, it was nonetheless a shocking loss to the 145th ranked, George Bastl. Even more insulting to Sampras was the fact that the match was played on Court 2, the dreaded “graveyard of champions”.

“I wasn’t happy about it. I’d rather be on a show court. Having won this thing a few times, I thought they might have put me on one”. But Sampras eased the pain of this defeat two months later in the most convincing way possible — winning his then-record 14th Grand Slam title at the US Open against Andre Agassi, and then promptly retired.

#3 Lu Yen-hsun defeats Andy Roddick, fourth round, 2010                     4-6, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4), 6-7 (5), 9-7

Andy Roddick’s dream of claiming the Grand slam he had wanted since a child morphed into the nightmare as he lost in four and a half hour encounter to Lu Yen-hsun.

Lu Yen-hsun, world No. 82 from Taiwan and son of a chicken catcher, had boasted a best performance at a major of reaching the third round at 2009 Australian Open before he blew Roddick out of Wimbledon by winning the fifth set 9-7 to reach the prestigious tournament’s Quarter-Final .

Lu’s father died in 2000 and this victory was dedicated to him while leaving Roddick confessing he was “pissed off”. The American was seen throwing his racket in fury in the locker-room after the defeat and, in response to some less than sensitive questioning, he said:  “Of course I’m going to be pissed off when I wake up tomorrow. If you got fired from your job, you probably wouldn’t wake up the next day in a great mood. We’re better than those questions.”

#2 Ivo Karlovic defeats Lleyton Hewitt, first round, 2003                        1-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-4

For only the second time in the history of the event, a top-seeded male was toppled on the first day. Lleyton Hewitt had the misfortune of running into 202nd-ranked Ivo Karlovic. The Croat’s ranking may have been lowly, but his 6-foot-10 inch stature was certainly not. The giant Croat’s blistering, laser-like serves shooting out from his over-sized frame proved too difficult to withstand even for the tenacious and speedy Hewitt.

Hewitt picked up another unwanted record as he became only the third defending champion to lose in the first round of a Grand Slam, after Boris Becker in the 1997 Australian Open and Pat Rafter in the 1999 US Open.

#1 Lukas Rosol defeats Rafael Nadal, second round, 2012                       6-7 (9), 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4

Two-time Wimbledon champion Rafael Nadal was coming fresh with his seventh French Open win when World No. 100 Lukas Rosol took him down in five sets. For Nadal, who had made it to the final in each of the previous five years, it was his earliest loss in a Grand Slam since 2005. He called Rosol’s match-winning fifth-set play “unbelievable”. Rosol himself found it hard to believe, saying, “I never expected something like this”. It wasn’t like Nadal blew it, as the Spaniard committed only 16 unforced errors in 276 points.

Rosol was the lowest ranked player to beat Nadal until No. 135 Steve Darcis knocked Rafa out of the first round of Wimbledon 2013, again following a French Open win.

Wimbledon has been a site for many shocking and unthinkable defeats of the top seeds at the hands of players who were thought to be incapable of pulling off such feats. While upsets on the magnitude are indeed once-in-a-generation occurrences, there are nonetheless many major surprises that have turned the tournament on its head and can forever alter the destiny and legacy of players.